Don't Let Go
by KaRath
Summary: Stand-alone continuation of "If I Only Had You". You'd think Matthew and Karis both deserved some downtime with one another, but the world won't leave them alone. And when you're against a wall, the only thing that you can do is hold on and not let go. MatthewxKaris mainly, backed up by other pairings
1. Heart vs Mind

A/N: It has been a long time hasn't it? Well, I've decided to keep going with my most "popular" series… but I think my story really needs to be brushed up. I learned a lot from writing "If I Only Had You", and from reading other quality fanfics I'm going to try and improve the quality of my fanfiction as well.

This is a continuation of my other story "If I Only Had You", but I'll try to make sure that you don't have to read that to understand this story.

###

It's been only a short month ever since the adepts uncovered the mysteries surrounding the psyenergy vortexes. During this time, some adepts explored the world, other adepts explored one another (examples need not be named), and in general, peace had returned to the once turbulent world.

But Matthew felt detached to everything. Restless during the day and unable to sleep at night, he started wandering everywhere to attempt to restore some normality in his short but eventful life.

However, no matter where he traveled, he could not stop thinking about the fact that there was no "normality" within his life, and he could never forget that face, the girl with the green hair and deep, amethyst eyes…

That's why he came back every time. He had traveled as far as Prox once, without even realising that he had nearly walked across the entire continent. He considered staying there for a day, a week, even a month, but the thought of Karis crying, grabbing his filthy shirt and pulling his mouth into hers and screaming at him to never leave him again always surfaced.

This particular night, his insomnia dragged him outside onto the plateau overlooking the remains of Mount Aleph.

With half of his face covered in moonlight, Matthew stared into the distance, aware of the light footsteps that approached him from behind.

"… Matthew? It's past two in the morning. Come back inside," a voice mumbled, filled with fatigue and confusion.

Matthew turned around to face his angel, the green haired girl whose amethyst eyes, even at half-mast, seemed to captivate his soul entirely.

"Sorry Karis. It's just… these nights seem to drag on and on, never ending… and the only chance I can grab some sleep is whenever I'm physically exhausted."

Karis sat down next to Matthew, and involuntarily shivered due to the cold and bitter air of the night air. This motion wasn't missed by Matthew, and soon Karis had Matthew's scarf and jacket wrapped around her.

She took Matthew's hand in hers, and looked him directly in the eyes. "I think that there just may be confusion within your heart. Although you believe that your head is clear of troubles and problems, your heart instinctively knows something is wrong."

Matthew turned away, once again to face the moon, whose radiance seemed to engulf the entire plateau. "Then how do I face it? How to solve a problem that simply doesn't exist?"

Matthew's head swiveled to meet her… damn her adorable, wise eyes.

Unfortunately, Karis didn't seem to have any answers either.

The couple sat there on the plateau, held in one another's embrace, bathed in lunar light, and watched over by the moon.

###

"You kids really need to watch where you sleep. If it was Tyrell, I wouldn't be concerned as much, but…"

Matthew and Karis were roused by the quiet and deep voice of Isaac.

"Morning Dad." Matthew stretched and yawned as he greeted the new day.

"Try not sleeping outside again. I thought you'd be sick of it since your journey around the world. Jenna's making breakfast at the moment, might want to come in within five minutes or so." Isaac smiled at both of them, then headed around the Outlook, making sure everything was in order.

Matthew jumped up, and offered his hand to pull Karis up.

Karis graciously accepted it, and the two headed within the cabin.

###

After being slightly told off by Jenna, the two of them decided to head towards Patcher's Retreat for a day of rest and relaxation. No duties, just simple leisure time, spend by the two of them together.

However, once they reached the place…

"Oh! Good to see you two here! Here to join your friends over there?" Patcher greeted them as the two stepped into the fine establishment.

"Umm… our "friends" are here?" Matthew remembered the last time Karis and he had planned their first "date". It was hi-jacked and ambushed by their so-called "friends". [1]

"Yeah, they're over in the corner, shooting some pool. You should join them, you know. Any drinks that you two want?"

"I think I'll be fine for now. Matthew?" Karis was slightly concerned with Matthew's silence – after all, this wasn't the first time some quiet time for the two of them has been interrupted.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Matthew forced a smile onto his face, and with his girlfriend in hand, took them towards the corner of the bar, where Eoleo and Tyrell had cues in their hand.

"Long time no see! How have you two been?" The friendly, red-haired pirate greeted them with a sweep of his hand, as Tyrell focused and sunk a ball carefully. "Nice shot Tyrell."

"Thanks, Eoleo. How are you lovebirds? Have a cozy sleep together?" Tyrell had a smug grin on his face and he noticed Matthew avoiding eye contact and suddenly finding the corner of the room quite interesting, while Karis was furiously blushing, and staring at Tyrell in rage.

"Look, Tyrell didn't mean anything by it. Actually, I came around because I had to ask you two something." Eoleo quickly interjected, before they were forced out due to Tyrell's shenanigans.

Matthew was intrigued by Eoleo's last sentence. "Sure. Lead the way to the table, and we'll talk."

###

"Alright, I half came for a social visit, and the other half was because we may have some sort of trouble brewing in the town of Izumo." Putting down the ale he was drinking, Eoleo looked at Matthew in the eye. "To be more accurate, I have a fair suspicion they're after…"

"… They must be after Himi." Karis interjected. "Of course, her Third Eye abilities would grant the possessor a vision into the future…"

"We need to go protect her." Matthew and Tyrell stood up immediately, their chairs grinding against the floor.

"Eoleo, I'm assuming your ship is docked down in the harbour?" Matthew asked.

"Yes. I still need to stock up on some essentials, but as soon as I'm done we can set sail. The weather is shaping up to be quite decent this next week."

"Do you need any money or equipment that may not be acquired dockside?" Karis queried.

"I think I'm set. You three get ready, and just meet me down in the harbour tonight. We should be able to go then."

###

Jenna sighed as she saw the children leave on a journey once again, and wrapped herself around her husband's body.

"I just hope that they'll be okay, Isaac. They've been forced to do so much already," Jenna murmured.

"They'll be fine. After all, Matthew's going with them," Isaac reassured her.

The pair from Vale watched as the three children… _no, they're not children anymore._

_They're young adults._

### End Chapter 1 – Heart vs. Mind

[1] – Reference to my one of my one-shot drabbles.

A/N: So, as you've probably noticed I loathe to bring any OC's or any OoC's randomly in unless I've established the fact that it's an AU. This isn't an AU, and therefore will still be centered around Weyard (or the Weyard that's still slightly within my head).

Anyway, reviews would be highly welcome, even critical ones. To my fans, this one probably isn't going to go too much towards the humour side… but I'll see how it goes. This one is going to be a slightly more serious story, but expect a smattering of humour every now and then as my favourite shipping couple get into trouble. *Smirks*

Alright, see you guys next time


	2. Gathering

I'm sorry for stalling on all my Dawnshipping and fanfiction in general. Only reason why I'm continuing writing is because I really need a new-old hobby, hahaha XD

Once again, the four were aboard Eoleo's ship, sailing away from the nearby port and towards Yamata. They decided that it wasn't worth disrupting Amiti, who was probably extremely busy running his empire (from the last time he heard, he was doing extremely well and was deeply adored by his subjects, as Matthew thought was reasonable as Amiti was always very calm, collected and a great friend), Sveta, who had to rebuild her entire city of Belinsk after the Great Shadow Disaster (Karis didn't have any fancy words, for once. After being intimately involved in the giant disaster, Karis decided that she would leave naming for nameless scholars who had more time to decide on a fantastical name), and Rief, who was probably with either Mia at the moment in her hometown of Imil, or studying with Kraden (Tyrell personally shuddered at the thought of being stuck with Kraden for 24/7 and trying to follow the elderly scholar's train of thought). Besides, they needed to make to Izumo with intense speed - Eoleo was extremely worried with Himi's wellbeing, considering her abilities were highly sought after.

"Eoleo! Starboard side! What the hell is that?" Tyrell swore, as he picked up on an unusual sight towards his right.

Everyone on board turned and looked towards the right side. Matthew summed up their feelings. "#* %!"

A giant hurricane was heading their way. Karis trembled. Being of Jupiter descent, she could instantly determine that it definitely WASN'T naturally-made, and... it was infused with raw, powerful psyenergy, a level she had never witnessed before, even DESCRIBED before.

"Everyone! Brace yourselves!" She screamed over the approaching deluge of noise, and everyone clambered to anchor themselves onto something.

Of course, even though Eoleo's ship was tough and sterner than last time, it didn't have any chance against the psyenergy-strengthened hurricane, and it was crushed. Everyone aboard was tossed in different directions, screaming out each others names as the hurricane plowed through.

As they flew in different directions, the hurricane suddenly dissipated, returning the day to the original cloudless and sunny day it had been.

Ivan stirred, and jolted as he remembered the vivid dream he had. A hurricane tore into a ship which contained HIS daughter and his probable-son-in-law (he could easily recall the times where they watched Karis and Matthew playing when they were younger, and Jenna watching the scene then whispering in Ivan's ear "three hundred coins that they're going to get married someday"), and they were scattered all around Weyard... by themselves and alone.

The bed creaked as he slowly rose and jumped off the bed, then headed towards the door of his bedroom. Quickly grabbing a robe and tossing it on, he opened the door to see a dazed and frightened Sheba.

"Ivan... the hurricane... Matthew... Tyrell... Eoleo... Karis," she murmured. "It... it wasn't natural... it just disappeared..."

Ivan grabbed Sheba into a hug, and slowly Sheba started calming down. Both Jupiter adepts could tell that the Hurricane could not be created even if both of their powers were combined. That said...

"Who created the hurricane?" Ivan whispered as Sheba shuddered to think of what could happen if the instigators decided to use their force for more sinister purposes.

Regardless, they went back to their respective rooms, quickly dressed, and headed towards the Outpost - Isaac, Jenna and Garet all deserve to know what happened to their kids, and both adepts were silent on their way there, praying to the Gods that the kids was okay, that the crew were okay, that they made their way safely to land -

Coughing to the point where he felt like his ribs were about to shatter, Matthew could only think of the positive point - despite the terrible pain in his lungs and the fact he felt all washed-up (which he was, he sarcastically thought), he was still alive.

And alive meant that he could figure out what was going on, and do something to remedy that.

That hurricane... _this was no natural occurrence, some powerful Jupiter adept must have summoned it... but for what purpose? _He slowly dragged himself upright, clutching at where he normally kept his sword - and thankful that the Sol Blade was still there, tightly fastened after the last incident they had.

"Karis," Matthew softly whispered. The last shipwreck he had participated in initiated their relationship and started another adventure, but this time it was different. He was stranded by himself (he knew, after seeing everyone thrown in different directions, that they would all be separated), in a place he wasn't familiar with, with no supplies and his back against the wall.

"... Matthew? Is that you?" A familiar voice called out, and Matthew snapped his head back.

"Himi!" Matthew exclaimed in surprise, and stumbled his way towards Himi. "Am I... in Yamata?"

Himi nodded, but then frowned and started looking around. "But... I don't recall seeing the ship in the docks... how did you end up here?"

Matthew sobered instantly, and told Himi the story of how Eoleo KNEW she was in danger, that they immediately mobilised to come help, which Himi interrupted.

"But Matthew... Eoleo... is in Yamata at the moment, and has been here for the previous two weeks?" Himi frowned.

Matthew was struck speechless. He stopped, and Himi could see his mind working furiously, trying to process this new information.

"Himi, I think we're in deep, deep trouble. I need transport towards Kalay, and possibly a messenger pigeon towards Ivan." Matthew, for the first time in his life, felt deeply scared.

"Reasons be damned Isaac! MY SON IS OUT THERE! BY HIMSELF!" Garet roared, and Isaac frowned back at him, his lips curling downwards.

The atmosphere in the Outpost Cabin was extremely tense, and Jenna shuddered. It was extremely rare for Garet to lose his temper, especially at Isaac.

"Garet. Don't forget, my son AND Ivan's daughter are also out there. Rushing out there would solve NOTHING." Isaac stared at Garet sternly, his blue eyes unwavering, and eventually the fury left Garet's eyes.

"Forgive me, Isaac. I... I'm just worried. The kids don't deserve this," Garet said, his shoulders slumping.

Isaac went over and gave Garet a hug. "I know you mean well, Garet. Hell, I... I wanted to just rush out. But we've got to look at the bigger picture here, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry," Garet flashed a weak smile. "They should be fine."

Ivan came back into the building, frowning as he read the message. "Isaac, I've just received this message. It's from Matthew."

Jenna sighed in relief softly, but she still felt awful. She's received news that her son was safe, but... she looked at Garet and Ivan, whose children's fates were still unknown.

"I might as well read it out to everyone - Matthew's gotten a better image than I have already," Ivan chuckled. "Your kid is pretty smart Isaac."

_Ivan, dad, mum, and to everyone else,_

_As you know, we were sailing towards Yamata to protect Himi, but we were suddenly struck by a magical hurricane shortly after departure. The boat was destroyed and we were all flung in different directions._

_I ended up in Yamata, where I've just met Himi AND Eoleo... which makes it a bit strange. Eoleo couldn't have been present in two places. Plus, Eoleo had been in Yamata for the previous two weeks - which has lead me down to these conclusions._

_1. Karis was shaking when the hurricane was bearing down on us - leaving me to believe that it was of Jupiter descent (I could not sense any malicious dark psyenergy), and hence, leading me to the final conclusion that this force was summoned by adepts even stronger than Ivan and Sheba, maybe their force even combined._

_2. The presence of two Eoleo's could further back up the fact that there are Jupiter Adepts working magic - in this respect, strong illusion spells that even fooled Karis._

_This leads to me the eventual (but possibly incorrect) conclusion that the Anemos are responsible. Reasons?_

_Karis._

After finishing reading the letter out to everyone, Ivan couldn't believe it. The Anemos were back... but for what purpose?

"Why... why are they back now? And if so, why..." Ivan choked on the last sentence.

"Do you think they've kidnapped Karis?" Garet asked.

"But for what purpose? If they want to reclaim any adepts descended from the Anemos clan, why would they steal only Karis, and not Sheba and I," Ivan mumbled.

Sheba put her arm around Ivan's shoulder as a mean of support, and Ivan turned and nodded his head in gratitude.

"... Ivan, I want you and Sheba to go back through the archives to search for every single piece of information of the Anemos." Isaac ordered. Ivan smiled weakly. Isaac was determined to get Karis back, to solve this dilemma once and for all.

"We will, but... we've searched through the books so many times, what are we specifically looking for?" Sheba asked.

"Any method to head into the sky... I've got a feeling we need to take our fight to the sky," Isaac said grimly.

Sheba and Ivan nodded. Isaac turned to Garet. "Garet, I need you to go to Imil. I know that you're concerned about Tyrell, but he's tougher than you think. Additionally, we need the help of Mia and her two children, possibly Picard/Piers [1] if you can find him, as well as Kraden. Kraden would definitely know something to do with the Anemos."

Then he turned to Jenna. "Honey, I..."

Jenna's temper flared. "You only call me honey when you're telling me something I don't want to hear."

Isaac gulped, and despite their situation Garet, Ivan and Sheba gave each other a knowing look and tried their hardest to disguise their grins.

"Umm, well as I was going to say angel, you should head to Kalay to sit this one out..."

"So I'm heading over towards... Belinsk? And trying to recruit their services?" Jenna said, brushing herself after dealing a brutal beating to her husband.

"Oww... yeah, yeah, okay... just stay safe Jenna," Isaac groaned.

"And where are you heading to Isaac?" Garet asked, just as everyone was preparing to leave.

Isaac cast a potent cure on himself, got up and simply said, "I'm heading towards Ayuthay, going to see if I can recruit myself some help from that region..."

"Matthew my friend, where are we heading to?" Eoleo said, as they were preparing his ship for departure.

"We're heading towards Contigo. We're going to assemble our forces there," Matthew stated. Eoleo frowned.

"But why Contigo?"

Matthew turned and smiled. "The Jupiter Lighthouse is on the continent, nearby to Contigo. And wherever Karis is... I fully plan to rescue her."

Eoleo smiled as Matthew turned away, glad that his leader was finally out of his slump. He'd heard worrying things from his friends recently that Matthew was becoming slowly depressed...

But with Matthew standing broad and firm without any doubt in his eyes, Eoleo couldn't help but believe that they had a chance to rescue Karis, find the others, and figure out what was going on.

Himi sidled up to Matthew. "Are you going to be okay, Matthew?" She asked. Matthew flashed her a reassuring grin.

"I'm okay. Plus, I'm sure my dad is mobilising his crew... we won't have any worries there. Plus, he's smart enough to pop by Belinsk and Ayuthay to also find people, so we'll also get more support from there. We will assault Anemos, whether it be through force or negotiations..." Matthew stated.

_Anything to get Karis back, _Matthew thought.

Tyrell grumbled as he felt the snow gather around him, and decided he had enough. "Inferno!" He cried out, burning an area where he could sit in comfort and warmth.

"I thought it was Garet for a moment, but judging by the smaller power it must be his son," A wry voice resonated through the storm.

Tyrell immediately jumped up, pulling out his axe. "I'll have you know that it isn't power that's everything! Show yourself, villain!" He yelled out into the bleakness.

"Easy there, Tyrell," the voice chuckled, and the individual stepped out.

"Uncle Felix!" Tyrell gasped, as he sheathed his weapon. "It's good to see you!"

"Good to also see you safe and sound Tyrell," Felix said, with a slight smile on his face. "Come on, we'll head back to the village, and I'll send a message out stating that you're safe."

"Where is everyone else? What's going on as well?" Tyrell asked. "Is Matthew, Karis and Eoleo safe?"

Felix gritted his teeth at the mention of Karis, but said, "We believe she's missing. Kidnapped by the Anemos. And don't ask, there's a long story, and I'll tell you when we're back in Prox..."

*** FIN - Chapter 2 - Gathering

A/N: Hey all who were (possibly) waiting for this story! Golden Sun fics haven't been updated that much recently... hopefully that should change with my sudden need for a new/old hobby.

Well, it's still in universe and in character, but so far the problem is how I'm going to be dealing with the Anemos. I don't want to let little Matthew without his Karis for too long, so expect there to be a quick resolution for them finding Karis :P at least, hopefully XD

That said, there will definitely be more dawnshipping later... this chapter was mainly for setting up the plot, the characters and the eventual arc.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy, reviews are deeply appreciated!


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